Jill Duerr Berrick

Zellerbach Family Foundation Professor

JILL DUERR BERRICK is the Zellerbach Family Foundation Professor at the School of Social Welfare.

Dr. Berrick's research focuses on the child welfare system and efforts to improve the experiences of children and families touched by foster care. Her interests target the intersect of poverty, early childhood development, parenting and the service systems designed to address these issues. Berrick’s research approach typically relies upon the voices of service system consumers or providers to identify the impacts of social problems and social service solutions on family life.

For over two decades Dr. Berrick has conducted a range of studies examining child welfare services for vulnerable families. She has written or co-written 11 books and numerous articles on topics relating to family poverty, child maltreatment and child welfare. Her most influential works have examined the benefits and limitations of kinship foster care; the characteristics of highly effective foster caregivers; and the human impacts of poverty-related policies for children and families at risk of foster care involvement.

Her newest book, The Impossible Imperative: Navigating the Contested Principles of Child Protection (Oxford University Press), lays out a framework for conducting principled child welfare practice. Dr. Berrick argues that the field is shaped by competing ideas that force child welfare professionals to make choices that are both contested and contentious. Although the principles serve to animate child welfare practice and policy, they are fraught with contradiction when placed in a real-world context. Joined by 15 co-authors who are former Berkeley students and who have served as child welfare professionals across California, these writers share their stories about working on the front lines of child protection. Using these rich case exemplars, the book draws the reader into that liminal space where ethics, morality, and reasoned choice are challenged. The book can be used as a teaching tool for aspiring professionals and as motivation for those looking to social work to make a difference in children’s and families’ lives.

In addition to her work relating to child protection workers, Berrick’s understanding of child protection systems in the U.S. has been enhanced by her current research drawing on international comparative analyses of child welfare policies and practices. Working collaboratively with colleagues from England, Finland and Norway, Dr. Berrick is currently involved in a research project funded by the Norwegian Research Council that examines decision making in edge of care child welfare cases — those where the risk of placement into foster care is high. The study has implications for improving the US child welfare system as we learn from other jurisdictions about the strengths and challenges of involving children and parents in decision making; vertical vs. horizontal support from colleagues and supervisors; the sufficiency of time for deliberative decision making; and the relative value of outside experts and consultants in decision-making support. More information available under Current Projects.

Dr. Berrick was recently offered a joint faculty appointment at the University of Bergen, Norway where she will continue her international comparative work with Professor Marit Skivenes. The new study, funded by the European Council, will examine decision making in child protection and the role of discretion among front-line social workers. She is also engaged with Professors Neil Gilbert (UC Berkeley) and Marit Skivenes (University of Bergen, Norway) in developing an International Handbook of Child Protection, featuring an analysis of child protection systems across six continents.

Berrick continues her longstanding work in the field of kinship care with a project focused on probate guardianship for relatives. And her work in partnership with the San Francisco County Human Services Agency explores the potential for child welfare reform as that agency seeks to change the cultural context of the organization toward data-informed, performance-oriented, and team-driven decision making to improve services for children and families. More information available under Current Projects.

In addition to her research, Dr. Berrick serves as chief editor (with Ake Bergmark of Stockholm University) of the International Journal of Social Welfare. The journal is well established as an important repository of materials relating to international social work policy and practice and is ranked highly as one of the most influential journals in the field of social work/welfare.

Dr. Berrick is deeply involved in campus life at UC Berkeley. She co-founded the Berkeley Hope Scholars (formerly known as Cal Independent Scholars Network), a program to support UC Berkeley students who have experiences in the foster care system. She also serves as Chair of the Committee on Undergraduate Scholarships, Honors, and Financial Aid (CUSHFA), where she is closely involved in the selection and support of the University's prestigious Regents and Chancellor's Scholars and the Fiat Lux Scholarship program.

She is also Principal Investigator for a campus program to train and support MSW students interested in child welfare leadership. The Cal-Child Welfare Leadership and Training (Cal-CWLT) initiative provides grants to assist students cover the cost of tuition, fees and books during their second year of study while they are placed in a specially selected child welfare agency for field placement. Students not only learn about child welfare practice and policy, but they are supported to use data in strategic decision making.

Dr. Berrick currently serves as the chair of the undergraduate major in the School of Social Welfare.

Ayasse, R. H., Donahue, J., & Berrick, J. D. (2007). The school enrollment process for group home youth: An examination of interagency collaboration on behalf of youth transitioning into new group homes. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 1(3), 95-114.

Barth, R. P., Biemer, P., Runyan, D., Webb, M. B., & Berrick, J. D. (2002). Methodological lessons from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being: The First Three Years of the USA's First National Probability Study of Children and Families Investigated for Abuse and Neglect. Children and Youth Services Review, 24, 513-544.

Berrick, J. D., Frame, L., Langs, J., & Varchol, L. (2006). Working together for children and families: Where TANF and child welfare meet. Journal of Policy Practice, 5 (2-3). Also published in R. Hoefer and J. Midgley (Eds. ), International perspectives on welfare to work policy. Haworth Press.

Berrick, J. D., & Gilbert, N. (1994). Should children be required to participate in school programs designed to prevent child molestation? In M. A. Mason and E. Gambrill (Ed.), Debating children's lives: Current controversies on children and adolescents. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Berrick, J. D., Barth, R. P., Needell, B., & Courtney, M. E. (1993). Relative foster care and the preservation of families. Papers from the Sixth Annual Conference on Family Based Services. Cedar Rapids, IA: National Association for Family Based Services.

Barth, R. P., Berrick, J. D., & Courtney, M. (1990). A Third Snapshot of California's Children and Families in the Context of the External and Internal Environment (University of California, Berkeley, Child Welfare Research Center).

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People

The UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare's pre-eminent faculty rank top in the nation in per capita productivity. Nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their fields, our senate faculty conducts cutting-edge research on the major issues facing California, the US and the world. Berkeley Social Welfare field faculty represent a diversity of experience and talents, training and preparing our students to excel as the next generation of social work practitioners, professionals and educators.